Group to collect signatures to keep 49ers out of Santa Clara

The twin power outages at Candlestick Park this week were a visible reminder of why the 49ers want to move to a new stadium in Santa Clara.

A rendering of the proposed stadium.

A grassroots group in Santa Clara, however, wants the Niners to stay where they are.

Santa Clara Plays Fair wants to collect signatures for a ballot measure to reject a contract to develop the $1 billion, 68,500-seat stadium next to the Great America theme park. Last week, the city council unanimously approved plans to use a $850 million loan commitment to build it.

In June 2010, about 60 percent of voters approved a measure to build the stadium. But “they weren’t given the facts of the finances on this proposal, and what it’s really going to cost the city of Santa Clara and its citizens,” said Deborah Bress, a spokeswoman for Santa Clara Plays Fair.

To put up the referendum, the group says it needs volunteers, plus more than $10,000 for legal help and printing costs, to ultimately collect 6,000 voters’ signatures.